Impact psychologique à long terme d’une hémorragie sévère du postpartum

摘要

The objective of our retrospective study was to estimate the long-term psychological impact of severe postpartum hemorrhage in women whose uterus was preserved. All consecutive women who underwent embolization for postpartum hemorrhage between 1994 and 2007 and whose uterus was preserved were included. Data were retrieved from medical files and semi-structured telephone interviews. In semi-structured interviews, women were asked about their perceptions and memories of the experience. Follow-up was successful for 68 of the 91 (74.7%) women included. Of the 46 (67.6%) who reported negative memories of the delivery and postpartum period, the main memory for 24 was a fear of dying (35.3%). Of the 28 (41.2%) who reported continued repercussions, 16 (23.5%) thought about this delivery and its complications at least once a month. Of the 15 women who had a subsequent full-term pregnancy, 9 (60%) reported intense anxiety throughout the pregnancy, and 1 (6.7%) developed depression requiring antidepressant treatment during pregnancy. Our study implies that severe postpartum hemorrhage can be at the origin of long-term psychological impact even if the uterus is preserved.